Technical Communication A Practical Approach Chapter 17: Style in Technical Writing William Sanborn Pfeiffer Kaye Adkins

Technical CommunicationA Practical Approach

Chapter 17: Style in Technical Writing

William Sanborn Pfeiffer

Kaye Adkins

Technical Communication: A Practical Approach, Eighth EditionW. S. Pfeiffer and K. Adkins

Copyright © 2013, 2010, 2006 Pearson Education, Inc., All Rights Reserved.2

Style in Technical Writing

Overview of Style Writing Clear Sentences Being Concise Being Accurate in Wording Using the Active Voice Using Unbiased Language Plain English and Simplified English



Overview of Style

Definition of Style The features of one’s writing that show its

individuality—separating it from the writing of others and shaping it to fit the needs of particular situations



Overview of Style

Importance of Tone Expression of an attitude in your writing

Casual Objective Persuasive Enthusiastic Serious Authoritative Friendly



Writing Clear Sentences

Sentence Terms The most important sentence parts are

the Subject

The person doing the action or the thing being discussed

Verb The action or state of being




Sentence Terms Four main types of sentences

A simple sentence contains one main clause A compound sentence contains two or more

clauses connected by conjunctions A complex sentence includes one main clause and

at least one dependent clause A compound-complex sentence contains at least

two main clauses and at least one dependent clause




Guidelines for Sentence Style Place the Main Point Near the Beginning Focus on One Main Clause in Each Sentence Vary Sentence Length but Seek an Average

Length of 15 to 20 words



Being Concise

Put Actions in Verbs Shorten Wordy Phrases Replace Long Words with Short Ones Leave Out Clichés Make Writing More Direct by Reading It Aloud Avoid “There Are,” “It is,” and Similar

Constructions Cut Out Extra Words



Being Concise



Being Accurate in Wording

Distinguish Facts from Opinions Include Obvious Qualifying Statements

When Needed Use Absolute Words Carefully



Using the Active Voice

What Active and Passive Mean? When Should Actives and Passives Be

Used?




What Active and Passive Mean? Active-Voice

Emphasizes the person (or thing) performing the action

Passive-Voice Emphasizes the recipient of the action itself




Use the active-voice when you want to Emphasize who is responsible for an action Stress the name of a company, whether yours or

the reader’s Rewrite a top-heavy sentence so that the person

or thing doing the action is up front Pare down the verbiage in your writing




Use the passive-voice when you want to Emphasize the receiver of the action or the action

itself rather than the person performing the action Avoid egocentric tones that result from repetitious

use of “I,” “we,” and the name of your company Break the monotony of writing that relies too

heavily on active-voice sentences



Using Unbiased Language

Sexism and Language The use of wording, especially masculine

pronouns like “he” or “him,” to represent positions or individuals who could be either men or women




Techniques for Nonsexist Language Avoid personal pronouns altogether Use plural pronouns instead of singular Alternate Masculine and Feminine Pronouns Use forms like “he or she,” “hers or his,” and

“him or her”




Techniques for Nonsexist Language Shift to second-person pronouns Be especially careful of titles and letter

salutations



Plain English and Simplified English

Plain English Recommended for United States government

documents General guidelines:

http://www.plainlanguage.gov Audience awareness Good document design Effective use of headings Clear organization




Plain English Style recommendations

Use active voice Put actions in strong verbs Use you to speak directly to the reader Use short sentences Use concrete words Use simple and compound sentences




Plain English Style recommendations

Use subject-verb structure Make sure that modifiers are clear Use parallel structure for parallel ideas Avoid wordiness




Simplified English Designed for a global audience

English is a second language Translating from English into other languages

Information sources http://www.asd-ste100.org http://www.userlab.com/SE.html




Simplified English recommends simplified sentence structure and limited vocabulary Use only approved words Use one word for each meaning Use only one meaning for each word Use active voice Use strong verbs Use articles or demonstrative adjectives Avoid strings of more than three nouns Use short sentences

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Technical Communication A Practical Approach Chapter 17: Style in Technical Writing William Sanborn Pfeiffer Kaye Adkins